May 17, 2013 - Constitution Day in Norway

Norway,
to Sweden: We're independent of you!

Sweden,
to Norway: No, you're not!

That's
basically what was happening in Scandinavia during the year 1814. You
see, Norway had been in political union with Denmark for hundreds of
years, but Denmark-Norway was on the losing side during the
Napoleonic Wars. Norway was “taken away from” Denmark and “given
to” Sweden, in January of 1814.

Norwegians
probably resented being traded like possessions, and soon they
decided to pull away from everyone else and stand alone, just Norway.
Some Norwegians wrote a constitution and, on this date in 1814, they
waved their completed constitution to the world and declared Norway
independent.

Apparently,
the Swedish king was not happy with that. He ordered an attack on
Norway. By August of 1814, it was obvious that neither side could
decisively win. Norway kept its constitution and most of its
governmental institutions, but the Norwegian Parliament “elected”
the Swedish king as ruler of Norway. With this compromise, Norway and
Sweden formed a union for almost a century.

In
1905, Norway completed a peaceful process of becoming fully
independent of Sweden.

Norway is known for its naturalbeauty. This particular fjord,glacier, and waterfall are justtiny samples of all the splendorsof the Scandinavian nation!

...Now,
what about that holiday?

Many
patriotic Norwegians celebrated the anniversary of the adoption of
their constitution in 1814, but for some years the King of Sweden and
Norway tried to discourage or even forbid these celebrations. By
1833, however, Norwegians become more bold about the celebration, and
by 1864, they were establishing traditions such as a children's
parade. The celebrations are different than many nations' patriotic
celebrations, because the Norwegians' holiday parades are very
non-military in nature. Even after World War II ended in Norway, by
coincidence, just a few days before the Constitution Day of 1945, the
parades are made up of children with flags and homemade banners, and
school marching bands, rather than armies and tanks. As the various
parades wind through their various communities, the children often
make stops to visit senior citizens, say, or honor a war memorial.
The parade in Oslo passes by the Royal Palace, and the royal family
greets their people from the balcony.

Learn
more about Norway...

You
can find coloring pages, a puzzle, recipes, fun facts, and stories
about Norway at A to Z Kids Stuff.

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This site is designed to be a source of interesting articles for kids and a resource for teachers and parents (especially homeschool teacher/parents!). From world holidays to historical anniversaries, Every Day Is Special celebrates each and every day.